


There Are Numerous Things I Hate About Italian Summers

by mismatched_ideas



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Double Date, Double Dating, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homesickness, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Drinking, dense and repressed Michele
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 05:43:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10757913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mismatched_ideas/pseuds/mismatched_ideas
Summary: Emil Nekola has had a crush on Michele Crispino since he was six years old but refuses to do anything about it. No amount of pushing from Sara and Mila seemed to make the young man want to make a move, a move they are both confident will work. But when they suggest a double date set up to show Mickey how Emil feels, Emil can't help but go along with them.





	There Are Numerous Things I Hate About Italian Summers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alison](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alison/gifts).



> I had a physical need to write this

“I think you’ve had enough.” The two woman exchanged a look before the redhead reached over to take away their friend’s drink. 

“I’m fine.” The brown haired man tried to grab his drink back but when that proved too difficult, he flopped his face down onto the bar.

“Emil.” Sara sighed loudly, “That’s gross, pick your face up.”

“No.” He replied petulantly, pouting before bursting into tears. Again.

Sara and Mila had decided to take Emil out for his nineteenth birthday, meaning for Mickey to be included in it but he’d gotten sick at the last minute and couldn’t come. Emil had not taken the news well and had proceeded to drink more than either woman had seen him drink before.

Now they wished they’d stopped him after two or three drinks. 

It turned out that after a few drinks, just as he was getting towards being drunk, Emil was just as happy-go-lucky as always. Maybe more so. But once you got into the dangerous territory of moderately drunk to totally smashed he became the saddest crying drunk either woman had ever met which was really saying something since Mila had regularly drank with Georgi when she was still living in Russia. 

“Emil, please tell us what’s wrong.” Mila cooed, wishing Emil was as forward as Georgi was about his problems. Then again, maybe she didn’t actually wish that. She loved Georgi, she considered him family, but she didn’t think she wanted to deal with anymore melodrama than she’d dealt with on a daily basis for most of her life. 

When Yuuri moved in with Viktor, Yuri had been a nightmare of complaining constantly even as Mila could tell he was glad to have them both in Russia. Georgi was a bit insufferable when it came to talking about his new girlfriend, a tiny blonde thing that Mila could break in half without breaking a sweat, and Mila just hoped they didn’t break up. He could be really insufferable when he was heartbroken. Also she wanted him to have something good happen to him for once. 

She hadn’t been gone from Russia long and she missed them. 

That didn’t mean she wanted to replace that melodrama with more of the same here.

“Why doesn’t he like me.” He sobbed, the bartender looking at their group with an expression that was one part annoyance, one part understanding, and one part resignation to the fact that his bar was frequented by dramatic figure skaters. In Russia, the staff at the bar near their home rink had been used to the drama long before Mila started drinking there. Here, though, there weren’t nearly as many skaters and those skaters, generally, weren’t insufferably dramatic. 

“Why doesn’t who like you, dear?” Sara asked, even though both of them knew who he was talking about. Emil’s crush was painfully obvious and had been since all four of them were children. In fact, Sara was pretty sure Emil had had this crush since he was six. 

“Mickey.” Another sob, “He never says anything because he’s too nice.”

Sara was ninety-eight percent sure that her brother had a crush on Emil too, but just didn’t realize it. She hated to assume things like that about other people but she knew her brother pretty well and also knew that the culture they grew up in, while not completely unaccepting of being gay was also not always the best. Their family was pretty chill about it, saying some gross things when they were younger but amending themselves when Sara introduced Mila as her girlfriend. But growing up in a Roman Catholic household in a Roman Catholic neighborhood didn’t help much, especially not for men. Sara felt like she had more leeway in this regard than Mickey did, or at least more than Mickey felt he did. 

That was all to say, Sara didn’t normally try and push people into relationship but these two got along well and she was pretty sure it was a mutual feeling. She really felt she’d be remiss to at least try and get them together. 

“Emil, I swear you just need to let him know how you feel.” Sara smiled at her childhood friend, “Mickey can be a little dense but you also haven’t really tired to flirt with him or anything like that.”

“But I don’t know how.” 

Mila and Sara exchanged another look before Mila drank the last of both her and Emil’s drinks and moved to pull the man off the bar. Sara quietly paid for their drinks, giving the bartended a good tip, before helping Mila drag Emil out of the bar. 

“I’ll give you some pointers.” Mila offered, “And all four of us with go out. It’ll be a double date and I’m sure Mickey will get it once you put the moves on him.” 

Sara rolled her eyes at this, snorting at her girlfriend’s insistence that she’d give Emil pointers. 

“Don’t believe in me, _Pchelka_?” 

There was a time when Mila’s sweet nicknames would have made Sara blush, but she wasn’t that easy to fluster anymore.

“I was just thinking about how _amazing_ you were at flirting with me.”

“Are we back yet?” Emil complained, letting both women take on even more of his weight.

“Not even close.” Mila snorted, “Should we just bring him back to our place?”

“I think so.” Sara grunted as she readjusted her grip on Czech man. “We don’t need Emil pulling a Yuuri Katsuki on my brother.”

“Why not?” Mila laughed, “Worked pretty well for Yuuri.”

“Yah, but Viktor is hella’ gay so it’s different.” 

At this Mila laughed again before letting their walk fall into silence. It was in their silent nighttime wanderings that Mila found she really missed Saint Petersburg. It wasn’t that this was that small of a town, it was basically a small city, but it was just so much quieter than the city she grew up in. In Saint Petersburg, there was a different kind of quiet. It was a buzzing quiet that was full of background noise and reminders of the other people living so close together. 

Here, Mila swore she could hear her friends thinking it was so quiet. 

“You should ask your brother about dinner.” Mila finally said as they reached their apartment building. At four stories, it was one of the tallest buildings in town. 

“Shouldn’t Emil do it?” 

“If he has enough confidence, sure.” Mila unlocked the outer door, groaning when she remembered that the elevator had been broken since this morning. “Help me get this drunk on my back, it’s the only way we’re getting him upstairs.”

After some struggling, they were able to position the drunk young man in such a way that Mila could carry him up the stairs. 

“I think he’ll be fine.” Sara walked up behind them, ready to slow their fall if anything happened. “He’s good at talking to Mickey as long as he’s not wasted.”

“Good point.” Mila thanked whatever gods she could for the fact that there were only four stories to this building. By the time Sara unlocked their front door, Mila wasn’t sure how much farther she could carry the tall man. It would be one thing to try and carry someone shorter than her or even close to her height, but Emil was _tall_ and the awkward hold she had on him was starting to slip. “For now, let’s get this drunk some water and get to bed.”

She dumped him on the couch and both women stayed long enough to make sure Emil drank two cups of water before he fell asleep before finally collapsing into bed, their limps twisted haphazardly together so they were touching without being too close. It was Mila’s first summer here and she was not used to the warm temperatures, especially not with the unnatural warmth of the past week. This meant minimal contact and minimal covers but the two women still did their best to remain in contact while sleeping, the touch comforting to them both. It was especially comforting to Mila even though she still didn’t want to admit how homesick she was. The uncomfortable heat was not help her homesickness at all.

She didn’t want to admit it but she missed Yakov’s shouting. She missed Yuuri and Viktor being attached at the hip and she missed Yuri shouting at them to stop being so gross. She missed Georgi’s dramatics.

She missed Yakov’s grandfatherly tutting. She missed Yuuri’s bright-eyed interested in learning Russian. She missed Viktor’s smile. She missed the way Yuri would ask for help with something he had difficulty with. She missed the cute excitement on Georgi’s face when he talked about his girlfriend. 

Mila pressed a kiss into Sara’s lips before collapsing back to her side of the bed, trying to shake her spiraling melancholy before it got too bad. “Good night, Love.”

“Good night, _Passerotta_.”

\---

Emil smiled at his own reflection, fixing his shirt and hair one last time before leaving his room. He was confident in what Mila and Sara told him about Mickey definitely having feelings for him and he was going to ride this wave of overconfident assumption for as long as possible. Sure, he didn’t believe them in the least but he’d accept the mental help. He’d been using his natural self-confidence to keep his spirits up for his entire life so he thought getting some outside help once in a while wasn’t too bad. 

“Mickey! Are you ready?” Emil called when he saw his roommate still hadn’t left his room. “Mila and Sara will be here soon.” 

No matter how many times Emil saw Mickey dressed up, his heart still fluttered every time. Thankful he’d long since gotten his blushing under control, not that Mickey ever seemed to notice anyways. 

“Could you help me with this tie? I don’t know why I’m having such trouble tonight.”

Emil nodded, even though he wasn’t sure he’d be able to tie it either what with the anxiousness he was already feeling from their proximity. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why tonight was making him all sorts of anxious when they’d all gone out plenty of times without making him feel like his heart was going to explode. Maybe it was Mila coaching him on flirting techniques or Sara’s insistence about her brother’s feelings. Maybe it was the fact that Mickey so rarely asked for help from him anymore.

Sure, Mickey and Sara were four years older than Emil and Mila but he’d done plenty to help them both out. He’d actually, as a ten year old, helped Mickey to tie his ties for two years. He’d told his mother he was too old for her to help tie his ties but never actually learned how to tie them himself. Emil, on the other hand, had taught himself to tie a tie when he was eight and so after a lot of angry and, even though Mickey would deny it, tearful hours Mickey caved and let Emil help. Emil was pretty sure helping Mickey tie a tie, and eventually teaching him to do it himself, was what cemented the vague notion that he might have a crush on the older boy. 

That wasn’t to say that Mickey hadn’t done plenty to help Emil. He’d done more than Emil was sure he realized. Mickey and Sara had been kind to him when he first arrived to train and study in Italy, alone and only six years old. When he was homesick Sara would distract him with a fun game or two. When he was having a hard time understanding the Italian people spoke to him Mickey would be there to repeat what they said slowly and carefully. Or, if the vocabulary wasn’t too tricky, he’d simply translate it to English. Mickey had even learned some simple Czech just in case Emil was having an especially hard time that day.

Emil considered Mickey and Sara to be his two best friends and maybe he was secretly afraid of ruining their relationship by just telling Mickey how he felt. 

“There.” Emil stepped away from Mickey, his tie properly done. “You look really good.”

“Thanks.” He nodded seriously, “Do you know why Sara wanted to do this? Do you think she has some announcement? They didn’t get engaged, did they?”

While Emil had been the one to invite Mickey, he’d done so under the pretense that Sara had wanted all four of them to go out together.

“Or maybe they’re planning to move to Russia.” As much as Mila tried to hide it, she wasn’t fooling anyone by pretending she wasn’t homesick. Emil understood that feeling and had tried to help but he wasn’t sure he’d done all that much good. 

“I think they just wanted to go out.” Emil paused, “Kind of like a double date.”

There was a knock at their door and Emil didn’t get to see if there was any reaction from Mickey about the possibility this was a double date. Emil let himself sigh as Mickey opened the door but quickly smiled again, letting optimism flush out the feeling that this plan was going to fall flat. 

“My, don’t you two look spiffy.” Mila smirked as she entered the room. “I always forget you two have some knowledge on how to dress yourselves.” 

“Oh, did Emil tie your tie again.” Sara clucked at her brother.

“How would you even be able to tell that?” Mickey crossed his arms, looking embarrassed. 

“Because Emil is better at tying ties than you.” Both women gave each other looks, “Your knots are a little crooked. I always have to fix them when you do it yourself.”

“It’s adorable he ties your ties.” Mila smiled with false sweetness laced into her words.

“It was just this time!” He shouted, the two women laughing as the turned to leave, Mickey close at their heels and Emil blushing behind all three of them. Thank god they couldn’t see him. “Hey, are you two listening?”

“How old are you, again, Michele?” Sara laughed, grabbing onto her girlfriend’s arm and pulling her close despite the heat. 

Emil hated the summer because it pushed people away from each other. In the winter he could drape himself over Mickey without the shorter man thinking much of it. Sometimes, if it was cold enough, he wouldn’t even complain. But in the summer, he had no excuses for touching his friend. 

On their way to the restaurant, Mickey spent most of the time arguing with Mila and Sara about this or that all while Emil walked quietly behind them, a smile wide of his face, like usual. And even if he felt a little down, Mickey hadn’t really tried to talk to him at all and he definitely hadn’t tried to compliment Emil, he was still happy to be in the company of his friends. 

“Mickey.” Emil called, taking a deep breath before draping himself over the shorter man. “I think your knots look fine.”

“Emil, it’s too hot.” He complained, trying and failing to push the man off of him. “And of course you think they’re fine, you taught me how to tie a tie.”

“Wait, what?” Mila turned to gasp at her friends, looking between them and Sara. “Seriously?”

“Mickey was too proud to ask our mom to teach him so Emil tied his ties for like two full years before he had Emil properly teach him.”

“Okay, now that’s adorable.” Mila smirked, “And how old were you when you finally learned, Mickey?”

Sara answered when her brother didn’t, “Sixteen.” 

“Sara!”

Sara laughed and everyone was arguing again. It was good-natured but spirited and they didn't quiet down until arriving at the restaurant even after getting looks from the older couples they passed on the street. Emil could care less about those looks, though. What was there to care about other than the fact that Mickey had stopped trying to force Emil off of him?

“Are you wearing aftershave?” Mickey asked when they arrived at the restaurant and Emil finally had to stand up straight. 

“Yep.” Emil smiled wide, his eyes closed for a moment. “It’s new.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re finally taking your presentation seriously.” Emil felt his heart sink. “Did Sara and Mila help you pick it out? I have a hard time believing you picked it yourself.”

“Yah, they helped.” Emil admitted, trying not to sound as disappointed as he felt. He _knew_ Sara had been wrong. 

When they were shown to their table, Emil wanted to die just a little. It was obviously set up for a date night and if he could melt into a puddle right here and right now, he would. 

This was going to be a long dinner.

\---

He tried. He really tried. But there was only so much flirting one person could do before they are convinced the other person is purposefully ignoring the flirting. And with each unreturned flirt, Emil felt his heart sinking lower and lower. 

Mickey spent most of his time trying to figure out what it was Sara wanted to tell him. He was convinced, no matter how many times Sara contradicted him, that she had something to tell the group. 

“Stop worrying.” Sara sighed, “Enjoy yourself.”

“It’s hard to enjoy myself when you for some reason invited me and Emil to your date night.” 

Why that comment was the final straw, Emil couldn’t say. Either way, it was a punch to the gut and he cursed himself for the tears pricking at the back of his eyes. He’d tried not to get his hopes up but he really wanted to believe Sara and Mila. He hated his own optimism in moments like this, when he believed in something so deeply only to have it crash back down on him. 

He cleared his throat, hoping to keep his voice even when he spoke. “I’m going to get some fresh air.”

Concern crossed Mickey’s face and he reached out to grab Emil’s wrist as he tried to leave. Half-turned away from the table and with Mickey’s hand warm against his wrist, Emil found he couldn’t stop a few tears from dripping down his cheeks. 

“Emil? Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine.” He pulled his wrist away, hurrying out of the restaurant while rubbing angrily at his eyes and cursing the fact that the concern in Mickey’s voice had made his heart skip a beat.

He hated his own optimism because this was _always_ what happened. He got his hopes up so high and then the fall hurt so, so bad. It felt like every single thing he put his hopes into came crashing back down in the end. 

Their table was left in silence, people looking over at them for a few moments before they lost interest and turned back to their own dinners. Before Mila could say anything, Sara glared at her brother.

“Will you get your head out of your ass?”

“Sara–!” Sara put a hand up to stop her brother.

“I see the way you look at him when he’s got his back turned. I hear what you say about him and how you act around him. You need to sit down and think about what you want and if you still want to live in this world you’ve created for yourself where you keep hurting yourself and other people.”

“I don’t know–”

“Michele.” The anger was gone from her voice. “It’s not required that one of us is straight.” 

“I…” He looked down at his plate, confusion clouding his thoughts. Did he think about Emil differently than Sara or Mila? He always thought of him as a friend, he didn’t like to admit it but Emil was one of his best friends. But were his feelings different than those you’d have for a friend? 

Sure, the reason he’d had trouble tying his tie today was because he felt strangely nervous about dinner, but he’d not thought that had anything to do with his younger friend. And maybe when Emil had gotten close help with his tie Mickey had been doing his best not to blush, but wasn’t that just because it was embarrassing to have to ask for his help? So what if the new aftershave Emil had been wearing had made Mickey want to keep Emil’s body close to his so the smell would stay in his nose. 

“I don’t care what you decide.” Sara finally said, “Because it’s your life. But whatever you decide, you need to do it quickly because someone has to go check on Emil and we need to know whether it’s going to be you or me.”

\---

Emil hated the fact that it never rained in Italy during July, at least not in this city. Maybe not never, but it rained very little. In Prague, it rained all the time and he liked that better. Sure, he’d grown up in this city, but he almost always went to Prague to visit family for his birthday. This was the first time in years he hadn’t. He’d just recently moved into a new apartment and didn’t want to travel home for a long time. It was just too tiring. That was why they had all planned to go out for his birthday, to celebrate and try to keep him from getting upset and homesick for a place he hadn’t lived in for more than a month since he was six. 

He hated how attached he got. He was attached to a city he barely lived in and to a family he barely spoke to. He became so easily attached and usually, he ended up getting hurt. 

Emil also hated crying. He cried so little that it wouldn’t be much of an over exaggeration to say he never cried. He’d been homesick, he’d lost competitions, and he’d lived through injuries without more than a couple of tears but maybe that was a mistake because now it all seemed to be coming out.

He heard the person behind them before they spoke.

“Sara, I told you it wasn’t like that for him.” He spoke through tears, his words barely understandable. “You should have just left me alone, I would have been fine. But now I’ve made a complete fool of myself.”

When the new arrival sat down next to Emil, surely they get yelled at soon for sitting on the stairs outside such a fancy restaurant, they handed the tall man a tissue. 

“I… umm… I didn’t think you looked like a fool.”

Emil looked up with a sniff at Mickey. 

“Mickey!”

Mickey didn’t make eye contact with his friend, his face red. 

“Sorry about… well– umm…” He stumbled over his words, unable to find the ones he was looking for. “I didn’t think you were– I just thought you thought–” He groaned, cradling his head in his hands. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. I didn’t even know you were gay.”

Through tears, Emil laughed as he blew his nose. “How? I thought I made it pretty obvious.” 

“I’m– I didn’t– I don’t–” Another groan. “I really thought the things I felt about you were just friend things.”

“The things you felt…?” Emil’s eyebrows scrunched together, “What…?”

Suddenly, Mickey was looking up at Emil with a red, set face. Emil saw him bite his lip before the shorter man was crashing their mouths together, surprise not stopping Emil from leaning into the kiss. It was simultaneously the worst and best kiss Emil had ever experienced. 

Mickey was the first to pull away, his face somehow redder than before. Emil smiled, his face lighting up and pushing his shock away for the time being. 

“I–” But Emil didn’t let Mickey finish, instead pulling him into a crushing hug. While it was difficult to speak, he tried again. “I guess I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me.”

Emil let Mickey go, his smile still in place. Mickey even found himself smiling fondly at Emil’s smile, something he was realizing he did a lot and was also realizing was probably not an example of the smile you’d use when looking at a friend. Now that he was letting himself dwell on thoughts he’d previously tried to push away, Mickey found a lot of thoughts he’d never expected. Like how nice he felt to have Emil’s new aftershave clinging to his shirt. 

“Of course.” Emil grabbed a hold of Mickey’s hand, excitement painted on his face. “I’d love to go out with you.” 

It was hard for Sara and Mila to not burst out laughing when their friends returned with flushed skin, rumpled clothes, and entwined hands.

**Author's Note:**

> I was talking to my friend and brought up this plot line to her and she was like "yes" and I realized that I had to do it even though I should be working on other stuff. Also, I was going to wait until Wed to post this but I have no self-control. I guess Sat is just the day I post non-FW&RS stuff. 
> 
> I feel like someone must have already written something similar to this but oh well. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading as well as leaving kudos and comments. 
> 
>    
> [ Tumblr ](http://mismatched-ideas.tumblr.com/)


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